FRENCH VALLEY: Mother of murdered Marine gives tearful testimony

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story gave the incorrect age when a murder victim came to the United States. Jan Pietrzak was 10 when he arrived from Poland.

Â The mother of a U.S. Marine sergeant, who was murdered along with his wife in 2008 in his French Valley home, testified in court Monday, June 10, describing her anguish upon learning her sonâ€™s killers were also Marines.

â€śI felt like somebody stabbed me right in the heart,â€ť Henryka Varga said, crying as she spoke and bringing some of the jurors to tears as well, during the penalty phase of the trial in Riverside. â€śEverything that he believed and I believed crumbled in one moment.â€ť

Sgt. Jan Pietrzak was born in Poland and moved to New York with his family in 1994, when he was 10, his mother said.

â€śHe was very proud to be American,â€ť Varga said.

â€śHe was very proud to become a Marine.â€ť

Kevin Cox, 25, Tyrone Miller, 25, and Emrys John, 23, were convicted last week of two counts of murder and allegations of burglary and robbery in the shootings of Pietrzak, 24, and his wife, Quiana Jenkins-Pietrzak, 26. A sexual assault allegation against Miller also was found true.

Testimony in the trial began in April and two juries heard the case against the three defendants. Now, the same jurors will be asked to recommend whether the defendants should receive the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The penalty phase of the trial began Monday.

A fourth defendant, Kesaun Sykes, 26, will be tried separately on the same charges. His next court date is scheduled for August.

The Pietrzaks were newlyweds and had been living in their Bermuda Street house for only a few months when four Camp Pendleton Marines armed with guns came to their door in the wee hours of Oct. 15, 2008, prosecutors have said.

Several hours later, the coupleâ€™s bodies were found in their ransacked home with gunshot wounds to their heads. Jenkins-Pietrzak was naked, bound and had been sexually assaulted. Her husband had been beaten and hog-tied. There were racial slurs â€” intended to mislead investigators into thinking the killings were racially motivated â€” spray-painted throughout the home and someone had set small fires inside in an attempt to burn down the house, prosecutors said.

Cox, John and Miller all worked with Pietrzak â€” a helicopter mechanic â€” at one time while stationed at Camp Pendleton.

On the witness stand Monday, Pietrzakâ€™s mother told jurors the story of her sonâ€™s short life and the stories behind the cherished items stolen by his killers and later found in their homes.

There was the gold pendant with the â€śHoly Motherâ€ť that Pietrzakâ€™s family gave him to protect him before he was deployed to Iraq; the expensive watch his mother gave him for his birthday; the diamond engagement ring Pietrzak worked extra jobs to pay for; and the military dress uniform that Pietrzakâ€™s family couldnâ€™t bury him in because it was still hanging in Tyrone Millerâ€™s closet.

Varga said the last year of her sonâ€™s life was like the â€śAmerican dream in action.â€ť

â€śEverything he wanted in life was coming together,â€ť his mother said.

He was a Marine, he had gotten married, he had bought his first home.

Pietrzakâ€™s wedding was Aug. 8, 2008 and it was the happiest day of his life, Varga said.

â€śThat was the last time I saw him,â€ť his mother said.

The penalty phase of the trial is expected to continue for several days.

Follow Sarah Burge on Twitter @sarahkburge or online at blog.pe.com/crime-blotter